Russell T. Davies Reveals Cancelled Doctor Who Christmas Special Details
The showrunner discussed a scrapped holiday episode featuring the Daleks and addressed the end of the BBC's partnership with Disney.
Russell T. Davies has revealed details of a cancelled Doctor Who Christmas Special, according to screenrant.com. The showrunner discussed the scrapped episode and the circumstances surrounding the end of the BBC's partnership with Disney.
Davies said he had pitched the special's story to the BBC and that they loved it. The episode would have featured the Daleks, the long-running villains of the series.
He also explained that the open-ended regeneration filmed with Ncuti Gatwa made Doctor Who look like it was ending. Disney withdrew from the Doctor Who partnership, and the BBC delayed announcing the news.
In October 2025, Gatwa had already decided to leave the show despite never facing the Daleks, which he described as a major regret. Davies originally chose to film an open-ended regeneration with the actor.
Davies then set up a Zoom call with executives, where the team decided on a shock regeneration in which Gatwa regenerated into Billie Piper.
Quick answers
Why was the Doctor Who Christmas Special cancelled?
Russell T. Davies said he pitched the story to the BBC and that they loved it, but the special was ultimately cancelled.
Who did Ncuti Gatwa regenerate into?
The team decided on a shock regeneration in which Gatwa regenerated into Billie Piper.